In this interview with Humphrey Onyima, the CEO of Leadership SCORECARD; the geo-physicist, administrator and the traditional prime minister of Ekpulambo Mgbowo, HRH, Onowu Austin Ezenwaka, speaks about the coronation ceremony of the ‘Igwe John Ibe’ of Mgbowo and the significance it holds for the people of the area and their hallowed cultural values.
Can you give us a brief history of kingship in Mgbowo town, before her communities were made autonomous?
Before the advent of the whiteman, Mgbowo as a community had been properly organized. You had different levels of leadership; religious leaders (ndiala) who played a significant role – and are still doing so today, the civic leaders, the community leaders. There was leadership in all strata of the community, down to the family and they all synergised to produce the leadership of the town.
With the coming of the whiteman came the appointment of warrant chiefs and people who, though not really accepted by the people, were the eyes of the white man in the community. This was at about 1929. We had Eze Nwaumahi, Ezenta, Ogbu Eze and the rest, until the emergence of the new era. Around 1976 or so, it went to Igwe L. N Ukah.
In 2001, Mgbowo was split into two autonomous communities, which is good for us – even though we wanted more to help us benefit from the government and to help with developmental spread. Currently, we have two autonomous communities and I have been chosen by the ‘Igwe’ to be one of the prime ministers for one of the communities.
You see the creation of more autonomous communities as part of the drive to enhance development. What significance do autonomous communities have?
Autonomous communities are of great significance. If they are just the way the government wants them and true to practice, they will be of much help. First off, security-wise, you now have an arrow-head in every community where you can posit your security personnel/outfit. If the whole state is split into various autonomous communities, then the government of the day would be able to control, to a very large extent, the security outfit of the whole town.
For development, each community will be in a position to understand and prioritize its needs, in order to know how to channel their resources (either resident or coming from the government) or direct the attention of the government to undertake such development.
The third is economic and political control. There is nothing as structured as having a system where you can get your leaders to give account of their stewardship and ask questions of them when they seem to not get it right.
It is laudable that the current administration has provided some financial support to enable the various communities undertake the most useful projects in their communities – by themselves. The governor has promised that he would keep up the practice as long as he remains in office. I hope he can keep up the practice and help communities in the back-water get themselves out of where they are currently. Each community can now know if it is water, roads, health facilities, skill acquisition/civic centres, schools etc that they want and deploy the funds to serve that need. I understand the notion behind the move and it is evidence of forward-thinking. Each of the autonomous communities in the state are at various levels of development and cannot have a blanket approach applied to them. While some have been privileged to have illustrious sons and daughters in offices of influence and tarred their roads as a result, others have not been so opportune and have to wait in line over the years for the development that never comes. This initiative will be their chance to kick-start their development. Others have had sons and daughters in offices of influence but have nothing to show for that – it is one thing to have a son or daughter in a place of influence and it is another thing to have a patriotic son or daughter in such an office. If the leader is patriotic, development will come – and this is also their chance.
Let all the autonomous communities have the privilege of developing their places themselves and at their pace. I do hope we all get there.
LEADERSHIP Scorecard understands that Ekpulambo Mgbowo, which falls under your constituency, is preparing for the coronation of the ‘Igwe’, who recently received his staff of office from the state government. Will the state government play any role in the coronation slated for December 22, 2018?
I do wish that the government would play a significant role in terms of funding, but I have no information in that regard and, if there is, we have not been told. The government believes that all communities should hold a ceremony to coronate and celebrate the emergence of their ‘igwe’. Having said that, I think the most important role the government should play – giving the ‘igwe’ the Staff of Office and Certificate of Recognition – has already been played. However, if the government can send someone to represent it, the people of Mgbowo will be very glad. Yes, the governor has always been on our side, but we want him and all his agents to be present, so that we can all be merry and celebrate our new king.
Meanwhile, we are doing the best we can to invite other functionaries of government. We are lucky to have people like Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Hon Toby Okechukwu and others, but we will like them to show up and bring with them other people in government. We will be glad, but there is no mandatory obligation that the government must play a role.
What does the celebration/coronation stand for?
It stands for the ceremonial handing over of the staff of office by the people to the ‘Igwe’ and members of his cabinet. It stands for visual recognition of the ‘Igwe’ and his authority, the beginning of an era, merriment, celebration etc. It is a means to show-case what we have culturally and traditionally, as well as the things which make us a unique community, seeing as each community is unique in its own way. Mgbowo, as a community and Ekpulambo as a sub-set of Mgbowo, also has a unique presentation to the people to show them that they are a part of us and we are a part of them.
You will recall that one of the most important ceremonies in any community is communion. We at, celebrate and rejoice together. Mgbowo believes that anyone who you eat with can never think bad of you.
We want to invite all and sundry, both in the state and outside, as well as all those who love this town, the ‘Igwe’, the people of Mgbowo to come jolly with us, merry with us and enjoy whatever we have to give.
